1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to visual effects employed in model vehicles and, more particularly, to a system and method for generating smoke and selectively directing it to different locations to create realistic visual effects.
2. Description of Related Art
Model vehicles, such as model train engines, that have smoke-generating devices are well known in the art. Some smoke generating devices generate smoke that drifts out of a smokestack to simulate the smoke produced from the burning of fuel, such as coal or wood. Other model vehicles may use a smoke generator to simulate steam escaping from valves or cylinders. More sophisticated models may use a blower fan coupled with a smoke-generating device in order to force puffs of smoke out of an opening to achieve increased realism, and still others may include multiple openings such that smoke is blown out of several orifices at once to simulate both smoke and steam.
However, current model-train smoke generation systems lack some realism in that they are unable to easily direct smoke to particular locations under user command in order to simulate particular operating conditions. For example, when an actual steam locomotive first starts up, valves called cylinder cocks are opened to allow accumulated water to drain that might otherwise damage pistons. The open cylinder cocks allow large quantities of steam to escape from the cylinders of the locomotive until the cylinders are clear and the engineer closes the cylinder cocks. During subsequent operation of the locomotive, steam escaping from the cylinders would indicate improper operation or a leaky valve and would be undesirable.
Thus, to provide more realism in a model vehicle system, it would be desirable to first direct smoke from a smoke-generation unit to the vicinity of the locomotive wheels to simulate start-up conditions and to later direct smoke to the locomotive smokestack while preventing it from escaping from the cylinders. At other times, it may be desirable to direct smoke to a whistle device to simulate a steam whistle. Such control and direction of smoke from a smoke generating unit could be achieved by actuating motorized valves, but such an implementation would add complexity and potentially reduce the reliability of the model vehicle system. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method for directing smoke that overcomes the foregoing drawbacks.